On September 2, the Commonwealth Fund released a brief examining the national health care reform law’s tax credits for small businesses offering employee health insurance.  The brief found that 16.6 million individuals work for potentially eligible firms but suggests that only 3.4 million are employed by firms that will utilize the credits. 

From the report:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes several short- and long-term provisions designed to help small businesses pay for and maintain health insurance for their workers, and to allow workers without employer coverage to gain access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance. Provisions include a small business tax credit to offset premium costs for firms that offer coverage starting this taxable year, establishment of state-based insurance exchanges that promise to lower administrative costs and pool risk more broadly, and creation of new market rules and an essential benefit standard to protect small firms and their workers.

Full Report: Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Small Businesses and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PDF | 652 KB)  

Commonwealth Fund. (2010). Realizing health reform's potential: small businesses and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Collins, S., Davis, K., Nicholson, J., and Stremikis, K.